Lil Jon Turns Down For What? | Rolling Stone 2014

The Two Things That Lil Jon Will Actually Turn Down For

DJ Snake and Lil Jon's "Turn Down For What" was released late last year and, in the months since, has sold millions of copies, been playing on repeat at college parties across the country, and, perhaps most impressively, birthed a whole new pop-culture catchphrase. Urban Dictionary defines it as such: "Rhetorical question used by teenagers. 'Turn up' is the act of getting drunk and high and being reckless so 'turn down' would mean sobering up. Turn down for what is really saying I am f*cked up and will continue to be all night no matter what. The only appropriate answer to this question would be 'nothing.'" One might think that the man behind those words would agree with this, but in an interview with the rapper, Rolling Stone's Simon Vozick-Levinson found out that there actually are a few times Lil Jon turns down. "Two things: Turn down for sleep and the police. You gotta get some rest, or you won't be able to turn up at all. And it's not cool to go to jail."

While we have to admit those are pretty legitimate reasons to "turn down," the writer also points out that the phrase could create a potentially troubling parenting problem for Lil Jon. When asked if his 16-year-old son uses the term as an excuse for crazy behavior, Lil Jon replied, "I've never even heard him say that phrase. Even though it's a smash record, I'm still his dad. I think he feels like it's uncool if he acknowledges it. I tried to give him a 'turn down for what' t-shirt, and he was like, 'I can't wear that.'"